The IEEE ABBET lower layers definition and status

The automatic test community is continually challenged with long term supportability problems. These problems occur across all branches of the military as well as within each service. Among these problems are the lack of hardware and software compatibility, the lack of hardware and software interoperability, the difficulties encountered with Test Program Set (TPS) rehosting, the replacement of obsolete hardware components, and the incorporation of new technologies. In an attempt to solve these and related problems, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and its A Broad Based Environment for Test (ABBET) subcommittee are in the process of developing a suite of standards. These standards cover the broad realm of testing from the input of product design, through the definition of test strategies and test programs, to the physical resource and bus control areas. Three of these standards have specifically been designated as the ABBET lower layers and address the long term supportability problems of the test community.